PEOPLE
At Penguin Random House, Stephanie Fryling will be join as SVP, adult retail sales on October 28. She will oversee the Barnes & Noble, BAM, field sales, and client sales teams. Most recently she has been vp, commercial strategy and category management at Barnes & Noble, where she has worked for the last 12 years. Ruth Liebmann, VP and director, account marketing, will report to Fryling, and work with me Jaci Updike on communication strategy for sales and marketing
Daniel Wikey has been named director of marketing and publicity, licensing with the Random House Worlds team, reporting to David Moench. Rosalie Stewart joined as senior manager, public policy and reports to the chair of the PRH Intellectual Freedom Taskforce, Skip Dye. She was previously manager of grassroots communications for the American Library Association’s public policy and advocacy office. Hilary Shrair has joined Young Readers as publishing assistant. Tatiana Guel has joined Random House Children’s Books as production design assistant. Jacky Bethea is promoted to manager of author development.
Marlene Reimer returns to HarperCollins as director of subsidiary rights representing rights for William Morrow, Harper Voyager, Dey Street, Mariner, and Harvest lists. She was previously associate director of subsidiary rights at Sourcebooks.
At Hachette Book Group, John Cassidy, previously national account manager for Amazon at Penguin Random House, is joining the online sales team as senior national account manager, selling client publishers to Amazon. Jules Kelly joined Workman Kids as associate publisher on September 30th. Previously they were assistant marketing director at Random House Children’s. Chloe Texier-Rose joined as assistant director of publicity on September 23rd, reporting to Sabrina Callahan. She was most recently director of publicity at Zando. George Tattersfield joined as VP of sales operations on September 30th, reporting to Lauren Monaco. He was most recently client director at W.W. Norton.
At Simon & Schuster, James Akinaka has joined as senior marketing manager, digital marketing, for Simon Kids and Simon Teen. He was most recently at Penguin Children’s. Robert Messenger has resigned from the imprint. In an “unrelated development,” Stephen Morrow, VP and executive editor, has also left the company.
Macmillan Publishers sees Preeti Chhibber join as digital marketing manager for Macmillan Children’s. Previously, she was a freelance writer and editor.
Scholastic’s executive editor Clarissa Wong has left the company and can be reached at cwong2422@gmail.com.
Princeton University Press sees Tony Lutkus, formerly president of Diamond Book Distributors, join as chief of North American sales.
Bradford Literature Festival, sees John Makinson join as chair of the board effective October 1st.
Grove Atlantic, will have Bridget Flannery-McCoy join as an executive editor on October 1st, working on nonfiction titles. She was previously at Princeton University Press.
The Associate of Writers and Writing Programs has named Michelle Aielli as interim executive director. She was previously vice president and publishing director of Hachette Books. The appointment follows the June retirement of Cynthia Sherman. The board of directors is currently conducting a national search for a permanent executive director.
Microcosm Publishing sees Lex Orgera join as editorial manager. She was previously the executive director of a regional literary organization and literary festival.
At Two Lines Press, Chad Felix will move into the newly formed position of creative director and Kelsey McFaul to assistant editor.
Candlewick, Holiday House, and Peachtree sees Nicki Walker join as associate national accounts manager. She was previously at Quarto.
The New Press sees Mary Beth Jarrad join as publisher. Jarrad was previously marketing and sales director at NYU Press.
In Agency News…
KF Literary sees Regan Devlin join as senior scout. She was previously at Baker Literary Scouting.
Azantian Literary Agency sees Mark O’Brien join as associate agent. He was previously sales coordinator at NetGalley.
Aevitas Creative Management promoted Lauren Liebow to agent.
At East/West Literary Agency, Jim Averbeck has joined as literary agent. Ana Crespo has been promoted to agent.
Felicity Bryan Associates will have United Agents founding member James Gill join on October 16th.
Transatlantic Agency has promoted Eva Oakes to associate agent.
Gemma Cooper is starting her own agency, Gemma Cooper Literary, and will begin operating on October 1st. She was previously at The Bent Agency for 12 years.
Frances Goldin Literary Agency has promoted Alison Lewis.
PROMOTIONS
At Penguin Random House, Kristin Fassler will move over to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on October 7th as SVP, director of marketing strategy and engagement, reporting to Sanyu Dillon.
Phillip Stamper-Halpin has been promoted to director of author development. Anika Bates has been promoted to senior marketing manager at Berkley. Aparna Rishi is promoted to director, consumer strategy and creative operations, reporting to Kristin Fassler. At Random House Children’s, Katy Miller has been promoted to senior managing editor, Madison Furr has been promoted to publicity manager, Cynthia Lliguichuzhca has been promoted to publicist, and Lena Reilly has been promoted to senior publicist. At Clarkson Potter, Jenn Sit has been promoted to editorial director of cooking. Susan Roxborough has been promoted to executive editor. Knopf Doubleday Group has promoted Chris Dufault to the new role of SVP, publishing, sales and operations strategy, reporting to Jaci Updike. Director, imprint sales, Annie Schatz will now report to Dufault. Alyssa Keyne has been promoted to manager, editorial and operations.
At Simon & Schuster, Nadia Almahdi has been promoted to director, digital marketing for Simon Kids. Alexandra Primiani is promoted to publicity director at Avid Reader.
Hachette Book Group, for Workman,Artisan, Workman Calendars, and Black Dog & Leventhal, Moira Kerrigan is promoted to executive director, marketing and publicity. Ilana Gold is promoted to director of publicity and marketing. Alana Bonfiglio has been promoted to senior marketing and publicity associate.
At Macmillan Publishers, St. Martin’s Publishing Group promoted Courtney Littler to executive editor, Hannah Phillips to senior editor, and Lily Cronig, Vanessa Aguirre, Christina Lopez to associate editor. Jamilah Lewis-Horton and Hannah Pierdolla have been promoted to assistant editor. Kayla Janas has been promoted to publicity manager. Farina Jaw has been promoted to senior graphic designer. Caroline Warshaw has been promoted to manager, art rights. Madeline Houpt has been promoted to editor at St.Martin’s Publishing Group/Minotaur Books. Emily Anderson has been promoted to assistant editor. Macmillan Children’s has promoted Chantel Gersch to publicity manager. Morgan Rath has been promoted to publicity manager. Helen Seachrist has been promoted to senior manager, production editorial. At Macmillan Audio has promoted Alexandra Quill to associate director, school & library marketing. Michelle Altman has been promoted to senior manager, editorial acquisitions and development. Ally Demeter has been promoted to producer.
Scholastic has promoted Jeffery Mathews to the new position of chief growth officer and executive vice president.
Tokyopop has promoted Lena Atanassova to editor in chief.
Two Lines Press has promoted CJ Evans to publisher in addition to serving as editor in chief.
Page One Media promoted Laura Di Giovine to associate director of publicity.
DULY NOTED
NYU Advance Publishing Institute announced that registration is now open, and there is an early bird discount through October 13. (Group discounts are also available.) An information session will be offered September 18
API 2025 program topics include:
- Global Trends and Opportunities in Audio
- A Deep Dive into the Creator Universe
- Mobilizing Communities of Book Lovers
- AI: Tools and Applications You Need to Know
- Analytics in Action: Marketing Case Studies
- DEI 2.0: A Moral and a Business Imperative
- Publishing for the Future: What the Experts Say
For more information about the program, pricing, and to register, click here.”
Midas US, the UK based public relations agency is launching a US branch led by Katherine Myers as deputy managing director. She was senior director of publicity at Little, Brown.
EVENTS
Amman International Book Fair
Sept 25- Oct 5
Amman, JO
LIBER Feria Internacional del Libro
Oct 1st-3rd
Barcelona, ESP
New England Independent Booksellers Association Conference
Oct 3-5
Providence, RI
New York Comic Con
Oct 17-20th
New York, NY
Frankfurt Book Fair
Oct 16-20th
Frankfurt, DE
Every week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.
